Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 37

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A cafe run by the Dark Guild’s successor.
37
Kayden held his breath for a moment, studying Rosia’s face. He had never seen her so defenseless before.
Rosia, who always built thick walls and surrounded herself with caution.
Now she was transparent—her inner self laid bare for anyone to see. The sight struck him with profound force.
Most of all, she was unbearably beautiful.
Kayden found his fingers rising of their own accord, drawn by the desire to trace the fullness of her lips, before he caught himself and jerked his hand away in panic.
Raised as a priest, he had lived his entire life in restraint, yet never before had he found his heart so difficult to govern.
‘This is dangerous.’
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
He felt his chest hammering.
His heartbeat grew faster and faster until the sound seemed so loud he feared it might wake her.
Yet he could not tear his gaze away. The thought of missing even a moment of this was unbearable—he found himself unable to blink.
The sunlight glinting off her hair. The soft rhythm of her breathing.
There was nothing about her that wasn’t lovely, and it made his chest ache.
How long had he been watching? The sun had already set, and darkness was settling beyond the window.
He hadn’t noticed time passing so completely until Rosia’s eyes began to open slowly.
Mesmerized by the blue of her gaze gradually returning to focus, Kayden found himself simply staring.
Rosia yawned as she woke, rubbing her eyes. Kayden’s ears flushed crimson at the sight of her parted lips, flushed and soft.
“Haa… I fell asleep too. Are you feeling better now?”
“Why…”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you sleep here?”
His voice emerged low and rough, vibrating with barely suppressed emotion.
Kayden was startled by the unfamiliar sound of his own voice and quickly closed his mouth.
“You grabbed my arm. I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep.”
Rosia, unconcerned, stretched her arm out languidly.
In doing so, the pale curve of her neck and collarbone were briefly exposed.
Seized again by the urge to touch, Kayden quickly curled his fingers into fists and turned his head away.
“Be more careful next time.”
“About what?”
“About me. I’m a man too.”
He had tried to express himself, suppressing every feeling beneath careful restraint, but Rosia’s response was a snort of amusement.
“You’re not a man.”
“What?”
Kayden stared at her, shocked, and Rosia’s expression grew cold again as she smirked.
“A priest. You’re a eunuch.”
“I’ve already told you I’m not.”
“Since that’s settled, get up and prepare dinner.”
Rosia clearly had no intention of correcting what she’d already decided was fact.
Stripped of even his manhood in an instant, Kayden chased after her with protests and denials, but Rosia simply shut her ears to it all.
Yet amid all this, Kayden harbored a small wish—that this ordinary routine might stretch on for one more day, and then another.
Before Rosia came, he had thought of his life in the Alain Mountains as punishment given to him. It had been, in truth.
But now, if he could continue like this, he found he wouldn’t mind being trapped here for the rest of his life.
‘I don’t want to die.’
The time granted to Kayden was not long. Priests posted to the Temple in the Alain Mountains rarely lasted more than two years.
When he had been assigned here, he had already accepted death—but his heart was changing now. He didn’t want to lose these days spent with Rosia.
“What are you doing? Are you still not feeling well?”
“No. What would you like to eat?”
It was the moment when the spark of his desire to live began to kindle within Kayden’s heart.
***
Empress Clione watched with satisfaction as her second son, Leonard, received his lessons.
“How can he be so clever?”
“Indeed. Every tutor who instructs His Highness speaks of nothing but praise.”
“Isn’t he? It’s not because he’s my son—he truly is brilliant. If only Arthur, my eldest, had inherited even half that mind… Sigh. Arthur has left the Imperial Palace again today, hasn’t he?”
“Yes. Recently there have been rumors that he spends all his time outside the palace.”
The Empress’s face darkened as she spoke with her secretary. Clione grimaced, pressing her hand to her forehead.
Just then, a tall knight with a handsome face came seeking the Empress.
He moved through the Empress’s Palace freely—those he passed averted their eyes and bowed their heads rather than look upon his face.
“Your Majesty, do you have a moment?”
“I’ve told you not to disturb Leonard during his lessons.”
Already in poor spirits, Clione clicked her tongue sharply.
“My apologies. But this matter is urgent.”
“Come. You keep watch over Leonard.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After entrusting Leonard to her secretary’s care, Clione led the knight to her private reception chamber.
The moment they were alone, the Empress’s cold expression melted and a smile bloomed across her face.
After confirming once more that no one could see them, Clione sat beside the knight, crossing her legs.
“Well? What was so urgent? It can’t be about me, surely.”
Clione traced her eyes deliberately over the knight’s frame, then licked her lips with her tongue.
“Would Your Majesty like me to show you what’s so urgent?”
The knight’s eyes darkened with intensity as he placed his hand on the Empress’s waist.
Absurd as the situation was, the two exchanged knowing smiles, comfortable in their familiarity.
In the sticky atmosphere between them, Clione laid her hand atop his on her waist.
“So then, what is this about? The only reason you’d visit me in daylight is because of him.”
The knight was someone Clione had secretly stationed with Bidler.
That he had come so urgently meant Bidler was up to something the Empress needed to know.
“Exactly. Something seemed suspicious. On the last excursion, didn’t you travel to the Alain Mountains with the knights for training?”
“Yes. We even brought back one of the Sailing Guild members, which is how we got caught.”
Clione’s teeth clenched audibly.
“Yesterday he went to the Alain Mountains again. Alone.”
“Alone? Why does he keep going there…”
At the mention of the Alain Mountains, the Empress, who had been tense from the start, suddenly exploded and leapt to her feet.
“It’s not even near the Capital, yet he keeps frequenting the place. It’s very strange.”
“Have you learned anything? No—it couldn’t be. The Alain Mountains are just treacherous peaks now… but then why…?”
Clione paced through the chamber, her expression uneasy.
“Exactly where in the Alain Mountains did he go? Was he searching for something?”
“His senses are too keen. I was following from a distance, so I couldn’t determine that much.”
“That’s the most important thing. Next time he visits there, if you have to take the risk, follow him. Find out everything—what he’s searching for, everywhere he goes. If you need more men, spare no expense.”
“Understood.”
After delivering his message, the knight moved beside Clione and took her shoulder in his grip. But she brushed his hand away.
“Go at once and watch Bidler, won’t you?”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
After sending the knight away and remaining alone in the chamber, a sudden thought occurred to Clione, and she clenched her jaw.
“Could he have gotten his hands on the map?”
In truth, the real owner of the Map of the Great Thief that Rosia had stolen was Clione. More precisely—her family.
They had kept the map long ago, only to have it stolen by the Great Thief, and they had never recovered it.
Recently she had heard the map had fallen into the hands of the Dark Guild, and the Empress had been watching carefully.
Clione was one of the few who could unseal the map and knew what it contained.
“No. Even if he had it, he couldn’t break the seal.”
The map was layered with multiple seals, and breaking the first one would reveal a location somewhere in the Alain Mountains.
Clione worried that perhaps Bidler had discovered this and was now searching the mountains.
“My precious Magic Stones… if only that business from ten years ago hadn’t happened… it still makes my stomach turn to think of it.”
Clione muttered viciously to herself, grinding her teeth.
“I need to move up the Crown Prince ceremony and find a way to send Bidler far away again.”
Having resolved to accelerate Arthur’s already-underway appointment ceremony, the Empress left the chamber with a stern expression.
***
Two days had passed since I saw that enormous wall of brush and the strange serpent-shape near the Temple.
As I swept the shop as usual, I sensed someone and straightened up.
“Who is it?”
I brightened, thinking we had a customer, but the figure dragging in loads of supplies was none other than the Carpenter from the nearby village.
“This place really is out here, isn’t it? Even on the way, I found it hard to believe.”
He hauled the three tables I’d ordered into the shop.
He labored to wipe the sweat beading on his brow with a cloth and carefully leveled each table.
“How is it?”
“I love it.”
They were exactly as I’d seen them in the village—understated but sturdy, and they fit the shop perfectly without standing out.
I offered the sweating Carpenter a cup of cold water. He gulped it down and his eyes went wide.
“Wow, this water tastes amazing!”
“Have some more. But how long have you lived in the village?”
“Oh, about seven years now?”
“Shorter than I’d have guessed. I’d like to meet whoever has lived there the longest.”
“The longest? Everyone’s about the same as me. The village itself hasn’t been around that long.”
I had a vague memory of visiting a village nearby when I was young, and his words struck me as strange.
“Could you tell me more about that?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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